Recognition without redistribution: Sanskritization, Dalit identity, and the limits of cultural mobility in Gujarat

This study examines Sanskritization within the Gujarati Dalit community as a form of cultural recognition and social accommodation that may remain distinct from material redistribution. It argues that cultural mobility can generate dignity, social visibility, and symbolic acceptance, but does not necessarily transform the material and institutional conditions underlying caste inequality. Employing a qualitative interpretive approach, the study draws on Ambedkarite critiques of caste and contemporary debates on recognition and redistribution. Focusing on Gujarat, it examines land–labour relations, urbanisation, and caste-based political frameworks to assess whether cultural mobility is accompanied by substantive changes in access to resources and institutional power. The study therefore distinguishes between mobility within an existing caste hierarchy and transformation of that hierarchy, arguing that cultural recognition can coexist with persistent material and institutional inequalities. It highlights the need to consider cultural recognition alongside, rather than as a substitute for, redistributive and institutional change.